News: Short & sweet / archive
January to March 2024

Cyprus: The winter thrush slaughter, which is still practised on a massive scale, has cost the lives of tens of thousands of wintering Song Thrushes
In the first 4 weeks of operation of the Cyprus Winter Bird Protection Camp 2024, 7 bird poachers and 12 illegally operating bird hunters have already been caught and reported to the authorities. On the 18th of January 2024, a severe storm and heavy rain triggered an inconceivable boost in illegal bird trapping and hunting activity, which had been manageable for our activist teams at the beginning of January.
 
Tens of thousands of song thrushes, on migration to the Greek islands and the Turkish coastal region, were driven to Cyprus by the storm. On the night of the 18th to 19th of January, this unexpected landfall triggered an adrenaline rush among Cypriot bird poachers and bird hunters, and hectic thrush hunting activities ensued.
 
On the morning of the 19th of January, the sounds of massive and widespread gunfire were reminiscent of the front line of a battlefield. From one day to the next, our migratory bird conservationists were confronted with an initial unmanageable level of bird poaching and illegal hunting activities, causing them to increase their hours of operation dramatically.
 
Nonetheless, in the days following and with the surprisingly helpful support of the police and state game wardens, our teams managed to catch and report 6 bird poachers and 12 hunters.
 
The discovery and release of 2 Egyptian Fruit Bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) from an illegal trapping net was remarkable. This species is threatened with extinction in Cyprus, with only an estimated 1,000 individuals of this rare mammal on the island remaining.

Results to date of the Cyprus winter  bird protection camp (4 weeks):
 
Illegal bird poaching

• 58 bird trapping sites identified
• 31 active bird trapping sites
• 36 illegal mist nets dismantled
• 15 electronic bird callers dismantled
• 7 charges laid against illegal bird poachers 

Illegal bird hunters

• 27 hunting sites with illegal activity identified
• 18 electronic bird callers dismantled
• 15 charges laid against illegal bird hunters

The pruning (pollarding) of old willow trees for the security and conservation of natural Little Owl breeding and nest sites is not a job for the weak at heart …
The now more than 320 l of much-needed precipitation per square meter in the Paderborn, Gütersloh and Soest districts from the beginning of November 2023 to mid-January 2024 has produced extremely difficult soil conditions in the lowland areas of Eastern Westphalia. In some cases, the heavy equipment we usually use was unable to access the pollard willow avenues and willow tree copses selected for pruning.
 
Our work teams still have to maintain a record-breaking number of almost 400 pollard willow trees until 29 February 2024, this year's end date for legally permitted tree pruning work.   
 
Our Little Owl project coordinator Herbert Wolf has once again assured us that all involved are "raring to go" and, despite the mixed weather forecast for the second half of January 2024, are ready and willing to take on the challenge.
 
As was the case last winter, we will also install up to 10 species-appropriate Little Owl nest pipes at selected locations in pollard willows specially pruned for the birds, thus further improving the available habitat in Eastern Westphalia for this small diurnal owl.
 
We were particularly pleased by the media interest in our Little Owl conservation project, which we were able to present on the Local Time OWL programme on the evening of 17 January 2024, at the WDR3 -TV Studio in Bielefeld.